Central Florida’s Steamroller Animation has received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games, which will be used to support the production of the new animated series Spice Frontier using Epic’s Unreal Engine. As a collaborative value add, Steamroller will also share feedback as they develop their animation pipeline to the Unreal Engine team to help develop new technology and innovation for animation and pipeline tools within Unreal Engine 5.
Unreal Engine is utilized by many of the top-selling games on the planet — as well as for virtual production, motion pictures and more — and it will be adapted to build Steamroller’s first self-produced IP animated episodic. UE5 is the latest edition of the real-time 3D tool.
“We’re beyond excited for this opportunity and to be welcomed as Epic MegaGrants recipients. Creating this type of linear content using Unreal Engine will help us immensely in expediting the production of Spice Frontier and other pieces of IP that we have in the works as a studio,” said Aaron Gilman, CEO of Steamroller Animation.
“As we develop robust pipeline tools for an animated show, we plan to share our learnings with the Unreal Engine team, so that our discoveries will be of tremendous value to not only the production quality of the show, but help to assist animators and improve the pipeline for all teams. We’re very excited to be a part of developing efficient and cost-effective storytelling for the industry as a whole.”
The studio’s Chief Creative Officer, Jalil Sadool, added, “Using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine primarily for an animated series will truly help streamline our production and allow for a one-stop shop software solution. With the use of Unreal, a growing studio like Steamroller Animation can tell complex and engaging stories while alleviating the potential for increasing debts.”
Steamroller is currently in the process of aligning potential distribution partners for Spice Frontier and other original IP projects happening at the studio.
Spice Frontier the series is based on Steamroller’s award-winning animated short of the same name, which follows space explorer Kentucky “Kent” Williams and his cyborg pilot C-LA as they scour the universe for rare Earth spices, centuries after the planet’s destruction. Watch it below.
Based in Mt. Dora, Florida, Steamroller Animation produces its own animated originals in addition to collaborating with some of the world’s biggest gaming and film studios, including Blizzard, Insomniac, Rio Games, Weta FX, Framestore and DNEG.
